Orange Expands 5G and Fiber Investments in Morocco, Boosting African Growth Strategy

Present in the region for more than 20 years, Orange Middle East & Africa (OMEA) has been based in Casablanca since 2019. Since then, the group has been striving to strengthen its investments in the kingdom and on the continent. "With a presence in 18 countries, Orange Middle East & Africa has been posting sustained growth for six consecutive quarters, with revenue up more than 10%. This performance is based on a strategy of local anchoring and diversification of activities because we are convinced of the role Morocco can play in our development on the continent," explains Christel Heydemann, CEO of the group, to the newspaper Le Matin.

The group employs 3,500 employees in Morocco, including 1,300 for its subsidiary, Orange Morocco, and more than 1,000 for Orange Cyberdefense, based in Casablanca and specialized in cybersecurity services, and Orange Business, based in Rabat and offering connectivity and integration services for international clients. Orange also has 1,200 employees at Sofrecom, specialized in engineering and development of activities related to international networks. "We want to continue to develop our hubs. Morocco is one of our operational hubs beyond hosting the regional headquarters. For example, it is our radio engineering center based in Rabat that ensures we have the right engineering and the latest technologies and provides support to the 18 countries where Orange is present in the region," says Jérôme Hénique, executive director, CEO of OMEA.

Orange Morocco is working to position itself as the leader in telecommunications in Morocco. "We have democratized fiber optics in Morocco. We talked about it for three years. Today, the Kingdom wants to increase the number of households eligible for fiber as part of its Morocco Digital 2030 strategy to reach 5.6 million," said its CEO, Hendrik Kasteel. The French operator is active in deploying 5G in the kingdom, a project dear to the Moroccan authorities who plan to achieve 25% coverage of the territory by 2026, and 70% by 2030, in anticipation of the World Cup football co-hosted with Spain and Portugal.